Experiment Reveals How to Make Nearly 70% of Vaccine-Hesitant People Change Their Mind

A new study has shown it's possible to persuade members of our
community who oppose vaccines to change their opinion by confronting
them with the costs of their hesitation.

Many people around the
world have never seen iron lungs, smallpox scars, or the blindness
caused by measles. For some, not seeing these physical reminders makes
it harder to weigh up the risks and benefits of vaccination.

Researchers from Brigham Young University in the US surveyed nearly
600 students with diverse positions on vaccination, and found that
meeting a person with first-hand experience of a vaccine-preventable
illness could provide an opportunity for a rethink.

Harder to believe still, that the CDC's goal was actually met in 2000 as experts declared the disease was no longer endemic, meaning new cases would primarily come from abroad.

Polio's story is much the same. In the 1950s, thousands of individuals
risked being paralysed by the disease. Thanks to vaccination, this is
also an illness few of us will ever encounter in our lifetimes.
While
global efforts to wipe out polio have managed to keep outbreaks
relatively low, the same can't be said for other vaccine-preventable
infections, such as measles and whooping cough.

Where
most people were once keen to stick to vaccination schedules, today an
increasing number of people are asking if the risks are really worth it.

But the human brain can be finicky when it comes to swapping teams, and our decisions on whether or not to vaccinate can be varied and complex, influenced by cultural forces as well as personal ones.

To
test the extent to which an emotional reminder of 'unfashionable'
diseases could work, researchers solicited the help of 56 college
students who admitted to being somewhat dubious about vaccines in a
survey.

Finding students with such a perspective probably wasn't
much of a challenge, since they largely came from a part of Utah where
vaccine coverage was among the lowest in the country.

An
additional 369 students who expressed confidence in the benefits of
vaccines also participated for course credits. Both groups included a
number of volunteers enrolled in a course that featured content on
vaccinations.

The combined sample was randomly divided into one of two
groups. One half would interview a person diagnosed with an auto-immune
disease; the other would talk to a person who had experience of a
disease that could have been prevented by a modern vaccination program.

Both
groups asked the same nine questions, seeking details on the type of
illness they had, its impact on their lives, their family, and their
finances.

The responses had quite an effect on some of the students.

"The pain was so bad that she ended up at a pain management clinic where they did steroid shots into her spine," reported a student who had interviewed a lady with shingles, a persistent effect from chicken pox.

"The pain meds didn't even touch her pain, even the heavy ones. For months, she couldn't leave the house."

A
follow-up survey re-evaluated the volunteer's attitudes towards
vaccines, while touching on their experience with their interview
subject.

Of the 19 individuals who weren't studying vaccinations
as part of their college curriculum and who also interviewed somebody
who'd had a vaccine-preventable illness, 13 changed their minds in
favour of vaccination.

Studies that included information on vaccinations also seemed
to help, with all five hesitant students enrolled in a vaccine-related
course shifting their opinions.

But
taken in line with the growing pool of research claiming human
narratives need to be at the centre of health education, this study
shows the role personal story-telling can play in controlling the spread
of disease.

"If your goal is to affect people's decisions about
vaccines, this process works much better than trying to combat
anti-vaccine information," says Poole.

Let's hope one day finding anybody who can tell such a story will be impossible.

Tendler-Like Teacher Says He Only Pursued Students After School!

World's Greatest Criminal Mugshots!

If Your Child Gets Raped - Go First To Your Rabbi - די באַסטערדז!

For My Israeli Readers! צפייה ביקורתית של יהדות אורתודוקסית

CLICK!

Mazel Tov - Rabbi Hershel Schachter!

CLICK ABOVE PHOTO! Rabbi Moshe Feinstein states the very marriage of a gentile woman to a non observant Jew, is equivalent to an open declaration that she will not observe the precepts. This is so, because it is highly unlikely that the gentile member of such a union, will be more committed to Judaism than her remiss Jewish husband (certainly when they are living together prior to their marriage). Unlike mental or tacit negations, explains Rav Feinstein, open declarations do invalidate conversions. When such cases appear before a rabbinical court, its members actually become witnesses to an acceptance declaration that is not sincere. Therefore, it is no longer a tacit insincerity, but rather an obvious one. As such, they are forbidden to sanction the conversion. Regardless of what this Jewish court may declare, the conversion is invalid and the person is not deemed a member of the Jewish nation. In Iggros Moshe, Letters of Moshe (Yoreh De’ah, no. 157), he writes that “According to the Law, it is certain that one who converts for the sake of marriage, does not intend to keep the commandments, and is not a proselyte at all.”

The Tendler Disease in the News - Again!

CLICK!

Child Molestor is Castrated in Plea Deal!

CLICK ON CUT 'EM OFF TENDLER!

We Are In A Time When The Sheep May No Longer Trust The Shepherds!

CLICK!

Tendler Country - Ex - High School Principal Gets 8 Years For Molesting Students!

New Square Appoints Vaad To Deal With Sexual Abuse!

Lakewood Kollel Opens In Senegal!

Scandals Tests Trust in Leadership!

Rabbi Matt Salomon Offers The Pope His Help!

CLICK ON PHOTO!

Oy! Does He Have A Headache!

CLICK ON YOSEL!

Child Abuse - Chipping Away At The Wall Of Silence!

CLICK ON BRIDGE - FOR SALE AT THE AGUDATH ISRAEL!

Rav Yosef Blau Shlita

***CLICK ON PHOTO!*** "Batei Din in our times are not effective in dealing with criminal behavior. Lacking the investigative arm of the police and having restrictive standards of testimony they can not establish guilt. When the culprit is charismatic, he can often get protégés who feel indebted to him to lie to the Beis Din. It takes years before those who have been abused as youngsters to openly face their abuser."

Kolko's Office Sign - Auctioned On eBay!

I'm a bit concerned about Ehud - he can't seem to keep his hands off of me!

Ehud asked me to pardon him!

Looks like George has been hangin' with Bill Clinton!

I look into your eyes --- and I see a rotten crook!

Did you hear the one about the rabbi & the priest? Rabbi Kolko penetrated the priest (oh father)...